Module 1- available before the release of all other modules.

Introduction Module – Overview to the Eight Limbs

Patañjali’s EIGHT Limbs

1. yamas: restraints, precepts, tenets, guides, compass

2. niyamas: observances, comportment in the world

3. asana: the physical practice of yoga

4. pranayama: moving and controlling the life force

5. pratyahara: withdrawal of the senses

6. dharana: concentration

7. dhyana: meditation. Sitting.

8. samadhi: pure absorption without a focal point

The yamas Definition: Ways in which we stay alive in the world without being enslaved to our likes and dislikes. “No longer being disturbed by the play of opposites”—Patañjali

ahimsa: non-harming satya: truthfulness; honesty; becoming trustworthy to self and others asteya: non-stealing; not taking more than is given brahmacharya: walking in the way of Brahma; walking with God aparigraha: non-grasping; nonclinging; softening the grip

QUTOES

Enter deeply into your neurosis, your anxiety, your panic, your confusion, your suffering, and your fear —get to know its textures, qualities, and fragrances, and allow it to take you into the secret chamber buried inside your own body. For within the mandala of tender, ripe aliveness there are jewels beyond the mind. —Matt Licata

Suppose you scrub your ethical skin until it shines, But inside there is no music, then what? —Kabir

Spiritual people can be some of the most violent people you will ever meet. Mostly, they are violent to themselves. They violently try to control their minds, their emotions, and their bodies. They become upset with themselves and beat themselves up for not rising up to the conditioned mind’s idea of what it believes enlightenment to be. No one ever became free through such violence. —Adyashanti

Forgiveness is a skill, a way of preserving clarity, sanity, and generosity in an individual life, a beautiful way of shaping the mind to a future we want for ourselves; an admittance that if forgiveness comes through understanding, and if understanding is just a matter of time and application, then we might as well begin forgiving right at the beginning of any drama rather than put ourselves through the full cycle of festering, incapacitation, reluctant healing, and eventual blessing. —David Whyte

Prework

Spend some time in the week before the immersion starts journaling about how you relate to the notion of “Restraints,” “Ethics,” or even “Commandments.” At what moments have ethical principles been most useful to you in your life? At what moments have you felt restricted or compromised by your own or someone else’s “morals”? If you could come up with your own five principles of ethics, what would they be? Why?

Readings are entirely optional, to enhance the course. Recommended readings for this module are:

Embrace Yoga’s Roots
Foreward, pages xv-xvii
Prelude, pages xix-xxii
Introduction, pages 1-18

The Path of the Yoga Sutras
Forward & Preface, pages xiii-xxii
Introduction, pages 1-4

The Yamas and Niyamas
Preface & Chapter 1, pages 12-19

AUDIO TEACHING

VIDEO SUN SALUTATIONS to the 8 Limbs

AUDIO Ganesha Mantra

AUDIO Introduction to the Yamas